Sermon Tone Analysis

32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him.

33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.

34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”[b]

And they cast lots to divide his garments.

35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”

38 There was also an inscription over him,[c] “This is the King of the Jews.”

“father forgive them...”

here Jesus asks for the forgiveness of the people in the middle of killing him.

the scoffers, the executioners, all of them.

If you’ve ever wondered if you could REALLY be forgiven … well here is your answer.

Today we’re going to dig in here - but we’ll start with more broad topic of forgiveness.

Generally speaking - we all know we’re supposed to forgive sin.

We see that here and all over the Bible.

and forgiveness is not the same as the silent treatment, or subtle retaliation, or talking about them every time the opportunity presents itself, or hardening your heart, or becoming bitter against them.

BUT It is easier said than done

Yeah.

I’ll take it one farther - it’s HARD TO REPENT

I have sinned - harder to say than “I love you”

requires us to think less of ourselves - miraculous humility.

and “please forgive me” is not the same as “I’m sorry...” or “I feel bad about...”

humbly submitting yourself to someone else.

hard stuff.

“maybe they’ll use this against me now” “maybe this confession will come back to bite me”

Don’t worry about those things.

That’s for God to sort out.

a clean conscience - the blessings of God - and removing any foothold for the Devil?

that’s worth every degree of bite-back you could receive.

But here’s the problem - it’s naturally impossible to repent.

Acts 11:18 When they heard these things they fell silent.

And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

2 tim 2:25 correcting his opponents with gentleness.

God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,

It’s a gift!

So what does that mean?

We ask for it, we pray for it.

For others, for ourselves.

There are those you know, from our church and fallen away, from outside, who have a great need for repentance.

PRAY.

THE SAME IS TRUE ABOUT GRANTING FORGIVENESS

natural - nurse the grudge - want vengence - the silent treatment - bittnerness

or maybe you’re the victim and playing that card - our culture does worship victims right now....

But that isn’t the option the Bible gives you, Christian.

- we must FORGIVE

parable - unforgiving servant.

Eph 4:27 “Be angry, yet do not sin.”

Do not let the sun set upon your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.

maybe you’ve got a good reason to be angry - ok - but that doesn’t mean you nurse it.

You kill it before it grows.

Forgiveness is another weapon in our arsenal against the enemy.

BUT HOW

Gandhi said only the powerful can forgive.

Well, no.

It’s actually the opposite.

Those who know their weakness, frailty, and depend upon the power of God.

Those are the ones that can forgive.

We beg God for it.

We pray.

aware of just how easily this can take root in us and make us bitter, destroying us.

And the greatest power to forgive?

Realizing how much you’ve been forgiven.

Think of Joseph.

How was he able to forgive his brothers?

He was keenly aware of the grace of God in his life.

Think about it - if you are the reason for your success, then any sin against you or your success is a threat.

And you definitely can’t just forgive those people.

but if your blessings come from the Lord and the Lord alone - then who are you to harbor any feelings of self-righteousness or unforgiveness?

AND THEN WHAT - Are things just supposed to go back to normal?

Luke 17:1 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!2

It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.

SIN HAPPENS - it’s going to happen - at the current state of things it’s impossible for it NOT to happen.

Church should discipline - God will judge - God will take vengence if necessary - BUT WE ARE STILL COMMANDED OT FORGIVE

but this doesn’t mean that in forgiveness there won’t be consequences.

If they are a spouse that had an affair - They must be forgiven - but they might not still have a marriage covenant.

It’s the right of the one sinned against to file for it, or not.

If a CPA has used his knowledge to steal from his clients - he can be forgiven - but he won’t be a CPA anymore.

If a pastor has had an affair, he can confess, he can be forgiven, but he still should resign.

He’s not qualified anymore.

if he doesn’t - remember how covenantal judgement works?

AND JUST BECAUSE THERE IS FORGIVENESS - doesn’t mean reconciliation is automatic.

to be reconciled fully requires not just confession and forgiveness, but repentance and maybe even restitution.

“try to live at peace w/ all men”

but if they are perpetually sinning against you and not repenting… peace isnt’ gonna happen.

SO FOR EXAMPLE: Let’s say someone slanders your name and reputation to a bunch of people.

They come up to you and confess their sin, ask for forgiveness, you forgive.

But it stops there…

“Well come on pastor, what’s the problem with that?”

Well, your reputation is destroyed with a bunch of people.

- PROPER REPENTANCE would look like them going to those whom you’ve been slandered to and working to undo as much damage as possible.

confess, and retract the lies.

EXAMPLE: If money has been stolen or lost through negligence, you pay it back.

Reconciliation takes time.

But it’s worth it.

Now, let’s start to bring this to a point...

MATT 6:12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Here - Jesus is ref. the year of Jubilee - all debts canceled.

Israel was freed from slavery and they were never to enter it again.

Nor were they to make one another bondservants for life either.

Israel was a free people.

Jesus is showing us here that the Jubilee was a sign - pointing forward to now - God makes people free.

“Whom the son has set free is free indeed.”